Just going to go through all posts in reverse order so I may address you twice. Will try to avoid that.
Mahna - Glad your foot isn’t broken or anything so horrid. Wait… Haven’t we had several Mumpers in the last couple months who did something unpleasant to their feet or toes? I seem to remember similar posts in the not-too-distant past.
As far as the costumes go… Actually, there’s not as much planning as you’d think. Most people who wear them only have one or two costumes, representing their furry character(s), and frequently they have those costumes made by professional fursuit makers. So, when convention time rolls around - be it AnthroCon or one of dozens of other furry cons - they just have to grab their costume and go. Obviously there are some people who do what you described, but they’re the minority.
Then it is fortunate for me that I’m a huge softy and absolutely love being hugged and squeezed! 
Wallflower - All the best to you and your SO, and congratulations on finding happiness, whatever form it may come in. Oh, and best of luck with your parents, too!
**
Anyrose** - Welcome to my life!
Pie - I did not see the word “band” there and was thoroughly confused for a bit as I tried to figure out how (and why) you would want to lose weight from there.
ems - I await, with great anticipation, stories and photos from your trip! Also, how do you THINK you quit your job? It’s kind of a yes or no thing, really… :dubious:
Gotti - Sorry it’s been rough on you, but on the bright side, at least you’re going to have a chance to meet new people and make new friends after the move, right? And as long as you stay in touch with those you’re leaving behind, via phone or email or instant messaging or whatever, I’m sure you’ll find yourself in good company at all times - no matter where you are!
As far as packing goes… Just think of it as a really thorough cleaning. When you move into the new place there’ll be no dust or dirt and everything will be exactly where you want it (once it’s unpacked, anyway). That only ever happens once, so savor the moment!
And finally, regarding your drunken Independence Day Calvinball offshoot - That. Game. Sounds. AWESOME!!! I want to play some time; I wonder if i could organize a game down at UMBC… pondering and scheming
Taxi - I think it’s just a parental thing. Ctrl-C and Crtl-V are your friends, though.
As for your weekend… Sounds like a good time! Food, friends, and fun are really all you need to make a day worth remembering, and beautiful weather just compounds everything. I haven’t played Life in forever, either - I know I always buy the big old Victorian house, though, cuz I’ve always wanted to live in a big old place like that. Plague sounds like a blast, too, and you’re right - that kind of spontaneous socialization really does bring a surprising sense of community. At least, that’s how I felt playing free-for-all Apples to Apples with strangers at the con, which I suspect was not all that dissimilar to your get-together save for the fact that we didn’t have delicious desserts or the good sense to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Rebo - A lot of work beats unemployment! 
VunderBob - Seeing as how you won’t be needing those coupons any longer, I shall selflessly volunteer to take them off your hands…
Also, I shall be making (non-Sugar Free, as Fake Sugar makes me ill) Neener Pudding soon, with any luck. It sounds delicious!
I will tear out your spinal column and bludgeon you with it. :eek:
Haze - I sort of figured most people on the 'Dope, being rational, mature professionals a generation ahead of me who are not as prone to such silliness, would fall somewhere between “Never heard of 'em” and “I’ve got a vague idea” when it comes to the fandom, so I figured it was my civic duty to edumacate the lot of you.
Also, I am very, VERY jealous of your vacation. Can you do me a huge favor while you’re there? Get me a recipe for AUTHENTIC Thai Peanut Sauce - I love the stuff, even the Americanized prepackaged jarred variety, but I’d love to be able to make it myself using only the ingredients it was designed to include! makes sad, pleading puppydog eyes
Actually, I’d take ANY recipe you could bring back, or post, or whatever. I love Thai food in general!
Lucky 13 - Glad you enjoyed the OP; I was worried I’d bore everybody, what with it being so long!
Interestingly, the only members of our little entourage who bought any adult material were the girls, Danielle and Kayla. I found that extremely amusing, except when I walked in on Kayla reading a furry yaoi manga called “Cocktails”. The three guys were too broke (me), too shy/embarrassed (Lenny) and too not-interested (Jon-Erich) to buy anything dirty. 
Oh… And thanks for the compliment, too! That pic was drawn by my friend Bethy, and I’m hoping to have it made into a badge in time for either AC 2010, or FA: United. It is adorable, isn’t it? :3
Doggio - You just got LEARNED! cue Reading Rainbow graphics
Taters - Don’t worry if you haven’t finished yet - it’s 12 pages long and there’s something like 600 photos and 45 minutes of video. I deliberately broke up the post with spoiler boxes and split the media across 8 links so people could read a bit every day instead of trying to take in the whole thing at once.
Also… What’s the new job? I may or may not understand it, but I’d still like to know.
3:55am is not early. 3:55am is betime.
FCM - You and your posts about food… I swear, every time I read something by you, it makes me hungry. You’re gonna make me secondhand fat.
Don’t worry if you need to spread the OP out - that’s what I’d intended for people to do. I may be unusual, but I’m not cruel! XD
Rebo - Glad you found my musings enlightening! That damned Law and Order episode is such a terrible misrepresentation of the community, it’s not even funny - yes, there are people like that, but they’re a tiny fraction of the whole fandom, and the rest of us largely ignore them anyway.
And I did find video of the parade - it’s in the links at the bottom of the third post.
LurkMeister - I was wondering if I’d draw any other furs out of the SDMB’s considerable woodwork with this post; I know there are a few on here but they’re incognito most of the time. Being an East Coast resident (Maryland, ~45 minutes Northeast of Baltimore), AnthroCon is one of the only Furry cons I can get to on my virtually nonexistent broke-college-student budget; everything else is out West and too far away. Not that that’s going to stop me from trying; AC was such a blast that I have found myself considerably more motivated to try to make it to Midwest FurFest, FCN, Califur, and others.
Do you by any chance have an AIM account? Or Yahoo Instant Messenger? I’m always looking to meet new, interesting people, so if you’re feeling brave, you can reach me at either of the above by sending a message to alastairmoonsong.
I’d love to hear your con stories at the very least, and ideally, add another friend to my contacts list; who knows, maybe you could come to next year’s AC with the group I’m going to organize!
Tarragon - Don’t worry, everybody loves stuffed animals… And anyway, there’s no shame in being a casual/closet Furry!
Swampy - Well, to be fair, we ARE people who dress up like animals. We just do it for reasons that go much deeper than most folks realize. Glad you enjoyed the OP, though!
Spaz - Dang… Y’all should call me Mario, cuz I just got 1-up’d @___@ Seriously, though, congratulations! I can’t even fathom the amount of work involved in something like that, so excuse me whilst I stand here in awe for a bit.
Arrighty, I think that’s everybody.
As for me… Today was spent working on homework. My last homework for the Summer, to be specific, since my Thermodynamics class final is tomorrow. I need a 75 or 80 percent on the final to get an A for the course, and a 50+ for a B overall, so I’m not too worried. Other than that, not a lot going on - as usual, wasting time online, and generally trying to keep myself occupied. I did make a new friend though - a Furry lurker from these boards who read this post and sent me an IM out of the blue yesterday. I will very likely end up joining his roleplaying group, so yay, an additional source of entertainment.
The next few days are going to be rather busy at Chez Moonie - Tomorrow is my Thermo final, Thursday I’ll be doing manual labor for grammom, and then I have Friday and Saturday to clean the entire house AND pack for a family vacation to the mountains of Western Maryland. Why clean the whole house beforehand? Because the day after we get back, I’ve got company (Cute girl! Yay!) coming to visit from out of state, and she’ll be staying the weekend. So much to look forward to - and so much to do in the meantime.
And finally: Today’s Random AnthroCon Anecdote: It’s Not Magic!
I was walking up and down the aisles of the Dealer’s Room on Sunday, the last day of the convention, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted something familiar looking. My thought process went something like this:
“Hmmm… Small glossy rectangular things. Look like paper, maybe cardboard… I see pictures at the top… Text and numbers underneath… Symbols… Can’t really make out detail but these look familiar…”
At this point I had not actually turned my head to see what these mysterious objects were, but that did not stop my brain from leaping to the following immediate conclusion: “Holy crap! They’re character badges* made to look like cards from the Magic: The Gathering trading card game!”
Being a former Magic player, I was immediately interested, and turned sharply, pointing at the table and addressing the dealer, even though I had still not actually taken a good look at the cardboard squares on the table. “Excuse me, are those badges made to look like Magic: The Gathering cards?”
The ensuing conversation went as follows:
Me: If so, I want one!
Him: Nope! Sorry! This is Furoticon, the adult Furry trading card game!
Me (now with a shattered heart and crushed dreams): Wait, what? :eek:
Him: Well, the way the game works is… starts explaining; I am no longer paying attention
Me: You should have just said “Yes!”. I would totally have bought something.
Him: I mean… Yes! YES! Yes they are! Buy something!
Me: Sorry man, too late, I just thought a Magic badge would be cool.
I’m not mad at the guy, and we both had a laugh at the incident, and I appreciate him playing along at the end, but still… Only at AnthroCon could I confuse a Furry porn card game for an homage to one of my favorite games ever. That’ll teach me to look before I leap - or speak, as the case may be!**
*It’s a little clip-on thing you wear with a picture of your character on it so people know who/what you are.
**No it won’t. I’m a slow learner.
if you pay $55 for something like that, you should be able to wear it for more than 5 minutes. Fortunately, it can be returned.
I’m so excited. I am already referring to it as home. When you stop to think of it, it seems like we are moving very fast. We’ve only been together a couple months, but it seem like we have always been together. Now all I have to do is figure out how to tell my mother that I have fallen in love with a woman.